Queen mom dies...

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Saturday, 30 March, 2002, 18:53 GMT Queen Mother dies Queen , the Queen Mother 1900 - 2002 The Queen Mother has died at the age of 101, Buckingham Palace has announced. "Queen the Queen Mother had become increasingly frail in recent weeks following her bad cough and chest infection over Christmas," said a Palace spokesman. The Queen was at her mother's bedside Buckingham Palace spokesman "Her condition deteriorated this morning and her doctors were called. "Queen died peacefully in her sleep at 3.15 this afternoon at Royal Lodge (Windsor)," said the spokesman. "The Queen was at her mother's bedside," he said. The Queen Mother's coffin is expected to be moved to the Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor Great Park on Sunday morning. She married the future King - in 1923No decision has yet been taken on whether the Queen and other members of the Royal Family will attend Easter service as planned at St 's Chapel, Windsor. The Queen Mother's death comes less than two months after that of her younger daughter, Princess Margaret, who died on 9 February at the age of 71. pays tribute A spokeswoman for Prince , who is on a skiing holiday in Switzerland, said: "He was completely devastated by the news. "He just wants to get back from holiday in Klosters. "The plan is he will leave Switzerland tomorrow morning with Princes and Harry. He wants to go straight to Windsor." The Duke of York, who was also abroad, was told the news in Barbados where he was on holiday with his ex-wife, the Duchess of York, and their children Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Other members of the Royal Family were already arriving at Windsor for their traditional Easter gathering. At Buckingham Palace hundreds of people gathered as dusk fell, reading the death announcement posted on the gates. The union flag is flying at half mast over the palace, although no members of the Royal Family are there. Historic life The Queen Mother was born Bowes-Lyon, on 4 August, 1900, the ninth of 10 children of Lord and Lady Glamis. In 1923 she married the young Prince Albert, the second son of V, who later become VI. At the VE day anniversary celebrations in 1995In 1926 they celebrated the birth of their first child, - the present Queen. Another daughter, Margaret-Rose was born four years later. In January 1936 King V died. The succession passed to Albert's elder brother. But VIII was forced to give up his throne to his younger brother after deciding to marry an American, Wallace Simpson. Quite unexpectedly, was thrust into the role of consort to the monarch, the new VI. They were crowned in May 1937. During World War II the King and Queen, along with the Prime Minister Winston Churchill, became the symbols of the nation's resistance. When London was blitzed, she stayed in the capital to offer moral support. And when peace came again the House of Windsor acquired a stability that had seemed almost unthinkable at the time of the Abdication a decade before. She was 51 when her husband, the King, died of cancer. She soon resumed her public duties as the new Queen Mother, while her daughter became the present monarch Queen . The Queen Mother's popularity continued throughout the decades. Her birthdays became something of a national ritual. Vast numbers of people gathered in London to celebrate her 100th birthday and a postman delivered the congratulatory telegram from her daughter, signed simply "Lilibet". In February 2002, her life was touched once more by sadness when her youngest daughter Margaret died at the age of 71 after suffering a series of strokes. Despite being weakened by illness, the Queen Mother was determined to attend her funeral and flew by helicopter from Sandringham to be at Windsor. Although her final years were undoubtedly clouded by some of the problems of the Royal Family itself - the criticisms never centred on the Queen Mother. She was always in the forefront of public affection. Lorraine.Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com